Save the Princess
by dove-white-stripes
Summary: An intitiate of an ancient sect of warriors is sent on a very strange rescue mission. (Tyzula AU)
1. Chapter 1

_Save the Princess_

* * *

 _We all make choices, but in the end, our choices make us.  
Bioshock  
_

* * *

 _ **Prologue**_

* * *

The young girl did not struggle, because she did not know what was about to happen.

She let her father guide her through the obsidian fortress, towards the highest tower. There, in the center of Caldera, she glanced out of the window before her father forced her into a chair. The little girl blinked twice at him, her big gold eyes pleading for answers.

"It won't hurt much," he said, and she trusted him wholeheartedly. He was not like mother; he loved her and he was the only person who loved her.

The young girl did not struggle, because she did not know what all of the strands of metal would do.

She let the woman inserting them do as she pleased. Her struggle began only because the wires hurt terribly and, while she wanted to look strong for her father, she felt impossibly weak when experiencing pain like this.

All she saw for what felt like eternity was overwhelming cerulean light.

* * *

 _ **1  
**_

* * *

They told Ty Lee the truth when she was young.

Her caretakers informed her that she was Fire Nation, and it explained so much that she did not understand before then. Despite her heritage, no one on Kyoshi Island ever treated her differently from the other girls who were being raised as warriors and so she could not complain. They were her friends, and Ty Lee would never fly a crimson flag or kneel to the gilded soldiers.

The only time her blood came up in conversation was when she was given her first assignment; it was the mission that would determine if she was a Kyoshi Warrior or not and she thought she might have gotten the deadliest of the lot.

"Caldera? I can't go to Caldera. Nobody goes to Caldera," Ty Lee said, her already wide eyes wider.

"We got you passage on a ship we captured a few weeks ago," Suki, the eldest of Ty Lee's unit said. "No one will notice it isn't a returning party of raiders until it's too late."

"Caldera?" Ty Lee repeated, unable to shake off her shock.

"You're Fire Nation. Less people will question you."

"It's a rescue mission, though, right? I don't have to assassinate anybody important or steal a National secret?"

"Yes. You're saving a hostage and bringing her to us, to the good guys."

"In Caldera?"

"What's so ridiculous about that? It's just a city."

"I heard that they have carriages that drive themselves and lights that turn themselves on and fences that burn people alive without being on fire."

"I don't know if those are rumors or not, but they sound silly. We cannot promise your safety; we never can, but we can promise that we would not have chosen this task for you if we did not think you could complete it," Suki explained, and her voice was so comforting and assured that Ty Lee could not find another reason to protest the mission.

She wanted to be a Kyoshi Warrior more than anything, so she would save that hostage and prove herself.

 **.**

 **.**

"Who's the hostage?" Ty Lee asked as she made her preparations. She did not carry much, seeing as the only weapon she needed was her fists. All she had to do was wear the disguise that she could sneak around and fight in. It was such a pretty light rose shade.

"She's in the Royal Fortress. They're keeping her there, and we need her," Suki said. She handed Ty Lee her small bag. "There's more information in there."

Ty Lee was agape. "How am I supposed to get into the Royal Fortress?"

"It's your mission. I know you can succeed at proving yourself."

Suki squeezed Ty Lee's hand.

It did not help with her nerves.

 **.**

 **.**

Ty Lee lay in bed on the rocking ship and felt the intensity within her rising with every wave. She was fearful, very fearful. Ty Lee tried to comfort herself with the fact that anyone would be scared in this situation, but it was of no use.

She could only sigh and embrace her fate.

For the rest of the trip, Ty Lee mainly slept. She ate when she could and practiced when she felt too jittery to rest. Preparation was important, and Ty Lee had to remain focused.

Okay, right now she was flirting with one of the soldiers and pretending to be _super_ interested in his muscles, despite being capable of tearing him limb from limb. He chuckled and blushed, which Ty Lee could not help but adore.

"You're cute… buuuuut you should get back to work," Ty Lee said. He was frozen for a few seconds before he snapped back to life, sloppily bowed at her, and walked back down the metal corridor.

Ty Lee smiled faintly at the fresh memory of his flustered attempts to hit on her. Her calm happiness did not last long; the warrior in charge of the mission suddenly entered the crew's quarters.

"Ty Lee, we are approaching Caldera. In a few minutes we will be past their defenses. I must ask you to do exactly as I say in order to get off of the ship and into the city. We're going to try to get you oriented so the Royal Fortress is in plain sight," says Remi. "Hurry up."

Ty Lee quickly followed her through the ship and to a small gap. Below her, the docks looked fuzzy. She had to take a deep breath, because she realized they would be expecting her to jump. Ty Lee decides to aim for behind the crates so that she can go unnoticed for as long as possible.

"Go for it," Remi hissed when the ship begins to draw attention. Ty Lee guessed they would not be able to remain hidden for very long, and so she jumped down to the floating hunk of wood, doing two flips on her way.

Pain reverberated through her legs as she touched down, but she tried to ignore that. She peered out from the sides of the crates and saw that no one was paying attention. Ty Lee vaulted over them and started to walk nonchalantly towards the city.

Ty Lee noticed that Caldera glowed in bright colors at intensities that Ty Lee had never even imagined.

Maybe some of the rumors about this city were true.

 **.**

 **.**

Ty Lee walked through the streets wide-eyed and agape.

This place was _amazing_. She did not know how it worked, but bright lights shimmered like fireworks overhead and there were in fact carriages that drew themselves with fake metal ostrich horses. The people of the city dressed so strangely. She knew they would wear red, but she never had seen fashion like that in her life. Ty Lee loved it. She was itching to spend some of her mission money to buy herself the weird glasses that everyone here wore.

It would be for an important disguise, of course, and therefore a good use of funds.

She stopped at the first fashion store she saw, and she walked inside. It was incredible inside, like nothing Ty Lee had ever seen before.

Oh, she loved it.

"I'm looking for some…" Ty Lee gestured circles around her eyes and giggled, feigning a silly girl forgetting a word in the heat of the moment.

"Sunglasses? Of course," the stylish shopkeeper said. She guided Ty Lee to the edge of the store and showed her an entire rack of them.

It was so hard to choose; Ty Lee felt overwhelmed by it.

She finally settled on pink ones that matched her new clothes. Now with a few hair adjustments she should fit into Caldera perfectly fine.

Ty Lee purchased them with the strange currency and then walked back onto the crowded street.

The thing she saw were beyond words.

What kind of magic made this place so marvelous?

 **.**

 **.**

"Okay, fortress, girl, find the fortress, find the girl," Ty Lee muttered to herself as the sun began to set in the sky. She knew she should finish this sooner rather than later; no matter how tempting Caldera was.

She could see the Royal Fortress ahead of her, but it looked impenetrable. How could so much pitch black stone be breached by her? Maybe she could find some ventilation shafts.

Ty Lee knew she needed a place to settle for the night and look over the other information about her mission. She located an inn and settled in her room.

Once she was on her bed, she opened her leather bag and started to examine the intel.

It was not very helpful. A small painting of the hostage, a map of Caldera, a few torn pages from a book about the Royal Fortress. None of it came close to explaining how this city worked.

Ty Lee got up to find a candle when darkness fell and she could no longer see her mission brief. She could not locate a single one in the rented room. How? Ty Lee started checking around frantically.

At last, her shoulder hit the wall and she felt something click under it.

A light on the ceiling suddenly illuminated the room.

Ty Lee looked to the switch and tried it over and over to make sure she was right.

She was.

That light turned on when she pushed a button, and Ty Lee could not understand _how_.


	2. Chapter 2

**_2_**

* * *

Ty Lee was overwhelmed by Caldera.

She opened her bag and looked for whatever help Suki had spoken about. Nothing of use seemed to be inside, and it had frustrated her on the ship. Now Ty Lee had the chance to shake everything out of it and start seeking the information.

When she turned to the bag itself, she ran her hand over the lining and found a small pocket inside. Ty Lee ripped it open and withdrew parchment, a painted picture, and a small cloth map that did not seem to reflect the city of wonders outside. It was probably outdated.

She picked up the painting and saw the cute little girl. She looked to be about five or six, and the painting looked to be expensive and professional. So, she was a little noble who was, for some reason, locked up at that intimidating black fortress that loomed over the streets.

Ty Lee was fantastic with children, and she knew she was perfect for this job.

 **.**

 **.**

As the sun set, Ty Lee gazed out of her window.

Her eyes were fixed on the fortress palace she would somehow have to infiltrate. What stunned her most was the lights of the city. Even though it was nighttime, everything glittered, glimmered and flashed. Music played from a bar nearby that glowed with bright red flashing lights. Ty Lee had never seen anything like it before in her life, and she thought it was beautiful.

It became clear to her why the Fire Nation conquered the world.

They had _this_.

It became clear to her why the Fire Nation had such unbelievable weapons.

They had _this_.

Ty Lee lost herself in the glistening city that made her feel breathless and small.

She could spend an eternity here.

 **.**

 **.**

Ty Lee could not even entertain the idea of sleeping, and so she got dressed to go out into the shiny paradise. The streets were packed, and she had no idea why; it was so late. After she went down a few paths, she suddenly understood why everyone was out.

 _The Fire Days Festival_ , read so many signs.

She had masks pushed at her by aggressive merchants, she saw food being made that she could not comprehend and was too afraid to taste. It overwhelmed her in a way that she had never felt before in her life.

Ty Lee at last found a cute pink mask of some kind of creature she found flattering enough. The festival enticed her, and she had the palace fortress in her sights. Tomorrow, she would devise a plan to rescue the little girl; tonight she would enjoy this fantasy world she stumbled into. She had never been anywhere like this before in her life, and she never thought she would be.

A stand drew Ty Lee's attention; it was producing something that smelled weird but enticing. She stared and watched the metal spin on its own, creating red fluffiness that looked like Fire Nation clouds. Well, the clouds were white in the Fire Nation, but Ty Lee bet they would dye them red if they could. Everything they touched back home they turned red, at least.

"Can I have… one?" Ty Lee did not know if it was singular or plural so she guessed.

"Sure," said the woman making it, smiling at her customer.

Ty Lee tasted it, and then spit it out when it burned her tongue. She rubbed her scorched tongue with her fingers and let the candy cloud hang loose at her side. After a few steps, she went back to eating it, this time proceeding with caution.

She smiled and went off into the festival.

 **.**

 **.**

Ty Lee wasn't very good at most of the games. Thankfully, batting her eyelashes and smiling wound up letting her keep most of the money that would be lost. This was a fantastic first assignment, and she could not wait to get home and tell her friends on Kyoshi Island about Caldera.

She wandered through the packed streets and stood down in front of an octagonal stage. She was quickly surrounded by other sweaty fairgoers who stood on either side of her, but she was not uncomfortable due to her excitement.

When she stood on her tiptoes, she saw that this was the main attraction of the night. Huge stacks of seats rose up like the sharp rock hills on Kyoshi Island. They were filled with _people_. Ty Lee truly had never seen so many _people_ and it thrilled her almost as much as the weird metal men that spoke and danced and were punching each other to bits for the amusement of the crowd.

Ty Lee looked up, up, up and saw something that made her stagger into another fairgoer. It was Fire Lord Ozai, and some young woman, and a man with very oddly groomed hair who looked severe. The guards surrounding him looked stronger than Ty Lee was.

Not that she would assassinate Ozai. She had aspirations to fight the Fire Nation, but she was here to rescue a captive child, not to do something that grandiose.

Ty Lee watched the metal men be replaced with real men. Their weapons were awe-inspiring and Ty Lee studied their combat to use it later. Three firebending battles made her jaw drop.

The man who was the best fighter went by the nickname _the Dragon_.

Ty Lee thought his bending was the best she had ever seen.

She kept thinking, however, that she could beat him within minutes.

After the last man fell, the drums rang out louder than before.

The sweaty, shirtless announcer in the ring called out to the crowd, "Does anyone want to challenge the Dragon?"

Murmurs, shouting, Ty Lee felt compelled, pushed by the daydream that enveloped her in curiosity and joy. She raised her hand.

"I will!" she called out and the man pointed his finger at her. His eyes flashed in that way men's eyes always did when they saw Ty Lee. "I'll beat him in under five minutes!"

"I like your confidence!" The man winked and the half-dressed girl whom was his assistant walked out into the crowd and took Ty Lee by the arm to help her up in the ring. Laughter and murmuring echoed from the crowd below.

From that octagon, everything looked different.

Her eyes flickered to Fire Lord Ozai again. He was watching her and it gave her gooseflesh.

"In less than five minutes?" asked the announcer.

"Yes," Ty Lee said into the weird metal voice amplifier he had been using. She was very baffled by the metal magic, but she kept it to herself.

"Don't burn her pretty face."

"I won't," said the Dragon.

Ty Lee snickered.

He came at her strong and she dove out of the way. She danced out of the flames and she no longer could hear the crowd. When he raised a hand and grabbed her by the braid, she fell backwards. He thought he had her, but she delivered five precise punches and kicked herself away from him.

The Dragon fell onto the floor of the octagon, whimpering.

Ty Lee stood.

The crowd did not cheer.

They were in utter silence.

 **.**

 **.**

After the fight cleared and the festival continued, Fire Lord Ozai entered and the room groveled with impressive synchronization. He had trained his people well, and he was well aware of it.

The Dragon was on a cot, hissing through his teeth. He silenced himself when the Fire Lord stood over him. It was an honor, but he was so rattled from his fight that he could barely comprehend the treat.

"What happened?" Fire Lord Ozai gruffly asked.

"She did something…" The Dragon rubbed at his arm with significantly slowed movement. "She took my bending and left me helpless. I've never felt anything like this."

"And I have never seen anything like it," Ozai said. He looked away from the man he did not care about and looked up at his second in command. "Who was she? Did she give you a name? Was she registered at the festival?"

It was a shame Fire Lord Ozai had to _ask_ to figure this out. He had not taken his eyes off of the girl in the fighting ring, but she disappeared into the crowd, lost among masks and countless other pretty young women. His XO, however, should know better.

"I don't know," replied Zhao. He had no idea why he _would_ know, but he was wise enough to keep his mouth shut.

" _Find out_ … and bring her to the palace."

 **.**

 **.**

As the night approached morning, Ty Lee felt the hair on the back of her neck prickle up.

She was being watched, and she knew it. If she were not on a dangerous mission, she would think it was due to how overwhelmed she was by Caldera and how she knocked out The Dragon and brush it off. But she _was_ on a dangerous mission, and people noticing her was a bad, bad thing.

Ty Lee should not have let herself get wrapped up in the festival that still raged.

She started to run when she heard the footsteps. They were quiet beneath the loud music, but that did not stop it from unnerving her to the core.

"Hurry up!" shouted a male voice, and Ty Lee suddenly saw that she was surrounded.

She punched the soldier to her left and kicked him aside, dashing into the alleyway and running up the wall to grab onto a windowsill. She hoisted herself up from there onto the roof and started running across the top of the shops.

It made her an easy target for the fire and arrows, but she dodged them easily. She almost fell when a blast of flame licked her arm, but she bit on her lip, ignored the pain and kept going. The palace was ahead of her and she knew that was her destination.

So much for a fun filled festival night.

 **.**

 **.**

Ty Lee panicked as she ran across the Caldera rooftops. She was in more trouble than she could fathom. She had never run so fast in her life. Well, she supposed that she had never been running for her _life_ , save for that time she threw rocks at Unagi.

She jumped down to an open window and swung inside. Ty Lee knew it would not take the soldiers long to figure out where she had gone, and so she bolted down the nearest stairs … and then ran back up them.

Hiding! Why did she not think of hiding?

Ty Lee threw open a closet door and climbed towards the ceiling before kicking the door closed. She was plunged into darkness and the only thing she could hear was her heartbeat. It raced like never before. Her palms and feet pressed against opposite sides of the narrow closet. She hoped she would not fall like she had never hoped for something before.

She heard the heavy footsteps of the soldiers enter the house. Ty Lee focused all of her energy on remaining in place and remaining unheard. The Kyoshi Warriors _did_ prepare her for strenuous balance and silent breathing.

The soldiers ransacked the place by the sound of it. Ty Lee pushed harder against the walls when she saw one soldier open the closet door. She closed her eyes and prayed to live another day. Fortunately, he looked around, shrugged, and left.

Ty Lee was too far above him to be seen.

Thank the spirits.

She waited for an eternity until the soldiers at last vacated the house. Ty Lee dropped down without making a sound and rubbed her aching muscles.

"On your feet, soldier," Ty Lee whispered to herself, and she forced herself to walk through the pain.

Ty Lee snuck around the residential chunk of Caldera. She heard the soldiers shouting things, warning people – at least those who were not celebrating the Fire Days Festival – and Ty Lee knew she had to be careful. Her hopes of caution, however, went out the window when she took the risk of crossing through a backyard. She was caught.

"Come inside," whispered the older woman clutching Ty Lee's wrist. Ty Lee reconsidered chi-blocking her. The woman had a kind and gentle aura of pure, warm gold. She was trustworthy, and so Ty Lee unclenched her fists and followed her into the house.

The woman's home was well-groomed but earthy. It had an exotic look but it felt homey at the same time. Ty Lee saw all of the weird lights and other odd appliances, but the statues and paintings made her feel like she was back in the Earth Kingdom.

Ty Lee scanned her surroundings and found three exits. That was good.

The woman finished locking her door and locked eyes with Ty Lee.

"Why are you helping me?" Ty Lee asked, batting her eyelashes to seem more innocent. She was a foolhardy girl who got caught doing something silly. Not a warrior sent here to rescue a prisoner of war.

"Look," the woman said, rolling up her sleeve.

The tiny marking at first looked like a very ordinary scar, but on closer inspection she saw that it was in the shape of the character for _shadow_. It had been burned into her flesh like a brand.

"What does it mean?" Ty Lee asked, trying not to stare but incapable of looking away. Who would burn a human like that?

"It's just a symbol. I'm helping you because I imagine you don't deserve what those men want to do to you. Your clothes give it away; you are no noble," said the woman. "Rest here until it's safe for you to go home."

"Thank you," Ty Lee said with a bright smile.

She hoped she was safe here, at least for the night.

 **.**

 **.**

Ty Lee left the next morning. The woman fed her first and she left while words of gratitude left her lips. She pretended to be heading to the neighborhoods, but she cut through another yard and started making her way towards the palace fortress again. Ty Lee _knew_ she had to be getting closer, but she wished she had a decent map.

This place was so _big_ and so _complicated_. It was a city that could be a planet.

As she slipped stealthily around houses, she had to pin herself against a wall twice to hide from passing soldiers. The first few were serious. The second few were laughing and trading lewd stories. None of them gave Ty Lee anything to worry about.

When she lifted her hand from the wall, she noticed something in the graffiti under it. The character for _shadow_ in the same distinctive penmanship of the brand on that woman. Ty Lee stopped briefly to ponder, but then reminded herself of her mission and kept going.

 **.**

 **.**

Ty Lee reached a literal blockade on her journey to the palace fortress.

It was a huge wall. The palace fortress was on the other side, eliciting a groan of frustration from Ty Lee. Instantly, Ty Lee tried to scale it, but even her years of training failed her. Ty Lee sighed and decided to follow it until she found a better way across.

The way she found was a gate guarded by very many buff soldiers. Ty Lee scaled a nearby shop and hid on the roof, close enough to examine them but far enough away to be unnoticed.

Their auras were mismatched, but all strong, fierce reds. They would be bold, aggressive and – due to their visible youth – risk-takers. Ty Lee did not want to deal with that type of soldier on her quest.

Ty Lee wished she were cleverer. She could not reveal herself by chi-blocking them – or fighting them at all for that matter.

Someone tapped Ty Lee's shoulder and she nearly fell from the roof.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but you're kinda in my way," a little boy whispered. He was grimy, he was odd, he was right beside Ty Lee and jeopardizing her position.

"Your way?" Ty Lee asked. "I'm on top of a roof."

"I look at people," said the boy, rubbing his hands together nervously.

Ty Lee grabbed his hand and held up the small bag with the girl's picture and Ty Lee's money. He squirmed and sought a way to escape her stern glare.

"Or you look from the roofs to decide who to steal from," Ty Lee said, crossing her arms. She did not take kindly to thieves, even if the little boy was _so_ cute.

"Why're you on the roof?" the boy asked. His voice shook.

"I'm saving somebody," Ty Lee replied.

"Past the gate?" he asked.

"At the palace fortress."

The boy's expression sobered. He seemed concerned about Ty Lee, and she saw it in his muted turquoise aura. She instantly forgave him for his theft.

"It's hard to get there," he said.

"Have you been there?" Ty Lee asked.

"Yeah."

"I'll pay you four of these gold coins if you show me the way."

 **.**

 **.**

Ty Lee and the little boy sneaked past the gate. Luckily, Ty Lee was thin and flexible enough to fit through the small gap that he used. They came out in an alleyway in a busy market.

"They doubled the patrols," the boy muttered and Ty Lee noticed the soldiers on the street.

Despite that, they crossed through Caldera easily. The boy knew a thousand ways around a thousand obstacles. Ty Lee marveled at every light or carriage with no horses. It was all so strange to her, even on her second day. The entire city seemed to run on magic.

Ty Lee and the boy finally reached the tall gates that surrounded the palace fortress.

"The palace has escape tunnels underneath," the boy said. "Most of the entrances are closed up, but a servant guy opened one to smuggle stuff a few years ago."

Ty Lee stared at him for a moment.

"You should stay behind," Ty Lee said. "It's way too dangerous for you."

Ty Lee handed him three gold pieces and entered the dark tunnel.

 **.**

 **.**

Ty Lee managed to get into the courtyards before the guards noticed her.

Oh, she was in trouble. She ran, and ran, and ran, knocking over anything behind her in order to make their pursuit harder. She had _darts_ fly at her, and fire singe her braid, and swords nick her arms. But she did not stop until she forced her way into the kitchens and ran from there.

She ducked through the palace and once she lost those chasing her, she was able to make herself vanish into the shadows. Once Ty Lee caught her breath, she started to figure out what direction would take her to the tallest tower.

Ty Lee seriously hoped that the girl was there. It would be really bad if she was not.

The palace was on high alert, and Ty Lee could tell. She went on ceilings and around statues and in every single place no one would be able to see her nimble body sneaking through the palace.

Once Ty Lee got to the steps of the tower, she just ran, stealth be damned. She ran without stopping or looking back, knowing that she _had_ to find the girl. She had no idea if she would ever see Kyoshi Island again. She hoped the girl would be cooperative. All of those worries invaded her brain, but she forced them away as she hurried up the stone stairs.

Finally, Ty Lee reached a blockade. She shimmied through it, ran up the final flight of stairs, and took refuge in the first room she saw.

Bright blue fire greeted her. Ty Lee had never seen anything like it; Caldera was full of surprises. She managed to dodge it, thankfully.

"Who are you?" asked a girl whose palms were burning cerulean, ready to strike again. She wore a red silk robe and her ink-black hair glistened in the candlelight. Ty Lee held up her hands in surrender.

"I'm Ty Lee and I'm looking for this little girl," Ty Lee hastily explained, holding out the creased and sweaty portrait.

"You found her," coldly said the young woman. "That painting is somewhat dated."

Ty Lee did not understand for a few long moments.

" _You_. You're the little girl?" Ty Lee asked.

"Yes. Now tell me who sent you and what they want with me," regally said Ty Lee's target.

"I was sent to rescue you," Ty Lee replied.

Before either girl could speak, pounding knocks on the door stole their attention.


	3. Chapter 3

**_3_**

* * *

" _You_. You're the little girl?" Ty Lee asked, her eyes wide.

"Yes. Now tell me who sent you and what they want with me," regally said Ty Lee's target.

"I was sent to rescue you," Ty Lee instantly replied.

Before either girl could speak, pounding knocks on the door stole their attention.

The hostage took one look at Ty Lee, then grabbed her by the arm and shoved her towards the bed, gesturing for her to hide. Ty Lee did not question it; she slid below and decided to avoid even breathing. The raucous knocks rang out again, this time fiercer.

"I was getting dressed! Give me a moment," she said and – after glancing at Ty Lee's hiding place – opened the door.

It was Fire Lord Ozai. Ty Lee could not have picked a worse room to hide in, regardless of if it was the one holding the girl. The girl who was not so little. The girl who threw _blue fire_ at Ty Lee. The girl who made this complicated mission even more complicated.

"Are you safe?" asked the Fire Lord.

"As far as I know, father," replied the girl.

Father? Father? Father?

Fire Lord Ozai could not possibly be the girl's father. She would not be a hostage if she were his child. Ty Lee decided that her dossier was not the most accurate one ever made.

She swallowed and closed her eyes.

This was how she was going to die, wasn't it?

"There is an escaped prisoner in the palace and she was last seen heading towards you," Fire Lord Ozai said, his voice startlingly calm. Ty Lee imagined she would be more alarming but maybe that was just her ego.

"I wouldn't know about that. I'm afraid I haven't seen anyone today. I haven't seen anyone in at least a week, if we are keeping track," the girl smoothly said, a hint of bitterness in her voice. If Fire Lord Ozai noticed it, he did not mention it.

"Would you like someone to stay with you?" he offered.

"I am very competent at killing," she said and Ty Lee's eyes widened. It was not what she wanted to hear. "I will be fine. Thank you for warning me."

Ty Lee waited through an awkward goodbye. The kind of awkward goodbye you have when you lock your daughter in a tower.

The girl waited for the footsteps to disappear before kneeling down to lock eyes with Ty Lee.

"You can come out now," said the princess. _Princess_. This had become too complicated. "He won't come back. Believe me."

Ty Lee crawled out from her hiding place and pushed herself to her feet. She chewed on her lip as she studied the _princess_.

"Nobody told me that Fire Lord Ozai was your father," Ty Lee said.

"You seem to have been woefully misinformed about me. Do you even know my name?" the girl said. Ty Lee shook her head. "It's Azula. Princess Azula. I wouldn't expect half of the citizens of the Fire Nation to know my name; I will let you get away with it. Now who sent you?"

"Well, I was supposed to be rescuing you. But you're clearly not a hostage." Ty Lee shrugged with her palms turned to the ceiling.

"Not a hostage? You are certainly an optimist," said Princess Azula. "Now _who_ sent you?"

"Uhm, well, the Kyoshi Warriors." Ty Lee grimaced.

"I am aware of their existence. They are the ones named for Avatar Kyoshi who have a track record of impressive victories. This clearly is not one of them," Azula said.

"So, do you want to leave or should I leave?"

"Do you want to explain why exactly they sent you or should I scream for someone to save me."

"The first one," Ty Lee replied quickly. "I'm not hiding anything. They just said to bring you back to Kyoshi Island and that you were a hostage of the Fire Nation. Really. I swear. That's all I know and that's all they want, I think."

"Then I will explain it to you. They want me so they can take down Caldera; there is not a better reason than that," said Azula, her expression as condescending as condescending gets.

"Why would taking you take down Caldera?" Ty Lee asked.

"Help me escape and I will tell you," Azula said and Ty Lee's eyelashes fluttered. "What? I think I would like a change of scenery."

"Why do you need help? I probably can't do more than you could," Ty Lee asked.

Azula absentmindedly rolled up her sleeves and Ty Lee saw marks around her wrists that could have only come from fighting against restraints. Ty Lee had dealt with enough prisoners to notice it.

"This city is not escapable without help. I have very little experience; I have never left this palace. This fortress; that is a better word. You got here; you can get out," Azula answered and Ty Lee could not argue with that logic.

The world is not a kind place, no matter how good you are at killing.

 **.**

 **.**

Azula leads Ty Lee down the hall and then enters a dusty room. She walks to a painting and moves it. From there, she opens a passageway. It was dark and cold, but it was better than the palace dungeons or worse.

"Come on," whispered the princess.

Ty Lee followed her inside and hoped she was not being led to her doom.

They walked through and came out just above a pond. Azula dropped down and Ty Lee followed.

"You got at least this far?" Ty Lee asked and Azula nodded.

"I got to Old Caldera before I turned back. I never could leave this place," she said, creeping through the shadows.

The lights of the city danced in the distance, but only the moon and stars illuminated the courtyard.

It was beautiful.

 **.**

 **.**

Azula and Ty Lee reached the edge of the courtyard and Azula felt around a stone pavilion. Ty Lee jumped at every small sound; she could feel how bad this was. Azula at last opened up a trapdoor and started to climb down a ladder.

Ty Lee gulped and followed her. This was stupid. Following the daughter of Fire Lord Ozai was stupid, but Ty Lee was curious. Ty Lee wanted to know.

The tunnel lit up bright blue from the flame on Azula's palm. It was one of the strangest things Ty Lee had ever seen, and she had seen some weird stuff today.

"Why is that blue?" Ty Lee asked.

"Because it is," Azula replied, walking out of the tunnel and into what seemed like a subterranean road. "This is Old Caldera. Most of it burned. We built a new city with electricity on top of it."

"Ele—what?" Ty Lee asked, stepping closer to the light radiating from Princess Azula.

"What?" Azula replied.

Ty Lee scratched her head. "Electri—never mind."

She did not want to look stupid in front of such a pretty girl. Ty Lee decided to assume that electricity had to do with how bizarre Caldera was and kept following Azula.

They entered the largest room yet.

Ty Lee barely had time to react before there was orange fire coming at her. She ducked and spun back up to see a creature with glowing eyes. It was a dragon. It was definitely a dragon, even though its movements were stiff and its eyes were far from natural.

Azula's light went out.

"I didn't know he…" Azula trailed off when the room lit up from the dragon's fire.

Ty Lee fell back as she tried to dodge and she heard Azula scream. She was falling for too long when she landed.

She landed with a metal spike through her throat.

She was drowning and drowning and then she was gone.

 **.**

 **.**

Ty Lee woke up grabbing at her throat.

She could feel the ship rocking underneath her and recognized her cramped quarters. The adrenaline coursing through her veins was something she had never felt before. That could not have been a nightmare. It was real. _It was real_. She could not think of another explanation.

Ty Lee sat up and grabbed her bag. She could not have made up all she saw. Or maybe she could have; she always did have a halfway decent imagination.

She got up and walked towards the crew's quarters; she had lurked there for days. Right now, she sought human interaction; it would make her put the nightmare behind her.

The knocking on the door she heard reminded her of Fire Lord Ozai – or whoever Ty Lee imagined – knocking on the door of the not-so-little girl's room. It sounded just as real now.

It was Remi.

"Ty Lee, we are approaching Caldera. In a few minutes we will be past their defenses. I must ask you to do exactly as I say in order to get off of the ship and into the city. We're going to try to get you oriented so the Royal Fortress is in plain sight," says Remi. "Hurry up."

Ty Lee quickly followed her through the ship and to a small gap. Below her, the docks looked familiar. She knew she had been here before. This was not just déjà vu. It could not be.

She collected herself, aiming for between the crates, and jumped before Remi could prompt her to do so.

The pain in her legs did not even register in her mind. She vaulted over them and started to walk towards the city. She had _purpose_ ; she felt oddly prepared.

Caldera was glowing with those strange colors. She could smell the streets before she was on them. That was not just a dream; this was very real.

As soon as she was on the crowded main road, she glanced at a sign advertising the Fire Days Festival tonight. She could taste the food without eating it. The sign beside it advertised the sparring contest with _featuring the Dragon_ printed on it in excited letters.

Ty Lee felt torn with indecision.

What was she supposed to do in this situation?

 **.**

 **.**

Ty Lee walked through Caldera with wide, admiring eyes.

The strange lights and automated oddities fascinated her, but this time it was not because she did not know how they worked. This time it was because she dreamed about them. How could Ty Lee _imagine_ anything like this?

Her dream felt like it was real, but Ty Lee could only prove that by reliving it. Except for the dying part. Ty Lee did not want to experience the _end_ to that elaborate and vivid nightmare.

She believed in magic, spirits and other strange things, things no one could explain, but she never expected to face one headfirst. This was a puzzle she wanted to solve, but first she had to save the princess.

Maybe she saw this place once. She was Fire Nation; she knew that, even if she was a Kyoshi Warrior. Ty Lee decided upon that and walked through the Fire Days Festival.

Slowly, Ty Lee walked towards a very familiar merchant. There were a thousand trying to force their products on her, but this one she recognized from her dream.

"Can I have one?" asked Ty Lee, rummaging for coins.

The woman made a beautiful red cloud of sweetness. Ty Lee accepted it and touched her tongue lightly to the searing heat, recoiling when she burnt her tongue. She rpproached the candy with more caution, and knew the taste was unmistakable. After her eyes widened and her heart raced, she collected herself.

"Have a happy Fire Days," the woman said warmly.

"Thank you," Ty Lee replied before scuttling away as fast as she could.

She dodged between the people crowding the packed streets. Eventually, she slowed down, knowing she was drawing more attention to herself this way than she would be standing right in view of Caldera.

Ty Lee found the games she played and stared at them for a long time.

 **.**

 **.**

Ty Lee was better at the competitions this time. She knew how to play, how to defeat them and win more money than she lost. If her dream could tell her _this_ , it seemed that it was right about everything.

Everything. Including the way Ty Lee died. _Died_.

Was it even worth saving that princess?

Yes. Ty Lee could never become a full Kyoshi Warrior if she did not bring Princess Azula to safety. She only hoped that she would be better at her flight from the palace, just like she was at these silly games.

Ty Lee left to stand in the crowd at the fight.

 **.**

 **.**

She was not stupid enough to offer herself up this time.

Ty Lee watched as the Dragon hammered his final opponent and kept his title. She kept her eye on the Fire Lord, sitting above the festivities. He made Ty Lee nervous, but she tried her best to look normal as she stuck to the crowd.

They dispersed around the festival as the night became pitch black and the shimmering, strange lights sparkled red and white and gold. Ty Lee walked close to one and poked it. It was not hot like fire; it just shone like the sun, untouchable, inexplicable, but somehow unnatural.

After she knew no one was looking, she ducked behind the shops and climbed up onto the rooftops.

Undetected in the dark night, she scampered over them, leaping from ledge to ledge as she ran in the direction of the Royal Fortress.

 **.**

 **.**

When Ty Lee reached the blockade, she hid on the rooftops and watched for a long while. Soon, she concluded that the only watchman was asleep, everyone else at home or at the festival. It was clearly a special night for the Fire Nation and she knew she could do better now that she was not traveling in the morning light.

Ty Lee jumped down, the light _thud_ of her footsteps not enough to wake the guard, and she crept past him. Of course, the blockade was a blockade. She did not know why she thought her dream would make her smart enough to be able to beat that.

Then, she remembered the passageway that boy showed her. Ty Lee tip-toed to it, getting lost only once, and flexibly wriggled through into the dark passageway.

 **.**

 **.**

Ty Lee knew her way through the courtyard now.

She followed a cautious pattern and only slipped up once—thankfully that was only a close call—before she was able to reach the palace.

No one was looking for an intruder this time, so Ty Lee made her way through the sleepy hallways with lazy guards and servants. She hurried up the steps she remembered and burst into the princess's room.

"My name is Ty Lee and I'm here to rescue you," she blurted out while dodging blue fire. It still stunned her to see it, even with the memories of her dream.

"Rescue me?" The princess cocked an eyebrow and shut the door, locking Ty Lee inside with her. "I have no need for rescue."

"Yes, but, well, the Kyoshi Warriors sent me on a mission. They told me you were a little girl who was a prisoner, but I had this dream and found out you weren't a little girl anymore and that you were actually Fire Lord Ozai's daughter, so we can skip that part of the conversation and hi, nice to meet you," Ty Lee stammered desperately, not blinking or breathing once until after she finished her rambling speech.

"Well, it seems _they_ are the kidnappers, because I am not a prisoner here. They want to take down Caldera by taking me," Azula said, which Ty Lee recalled somewhat from last time. Or her dream. Or last time. Or whatever it was.

"So, why would it take down Caldera to kidnap you?" Ty Lee asked, hoping maybe she would get an answer this time.

Azula answered, as she did in the nightmare, "Help me escape and I will tell you."

"So you need rescue?" Ty Lee asked, scratching her head.

"No. I need assistance and someone to serve me on my flight from this palace," Azula said, and Ty Lee shrugged.

Then her stomach twisted; she remembered what happened last time.

"Okay, so where to?" Ty Lee smiled, trying to hide her fear from Princess Azula.

"I ran away a few times, but I never made it past Old Caldera. However, Old Caldera is the best way out," Azula said, which made Ty Lee vehemently shake her head. "What?"

"Old Caldera is guarded at the moment and I think I can take you through the passage I took to get here. You said you wanted help, and I know that that's the best way for us to go," Ty Lee insisted. Azula sneered at first, then narrowed her eyes, then returned her expression to its cold state.

"If you think so," she said, which did not make Ty Lee feel any less uneasy.

Ty Lee nodded.

 **.**

 **.**

Azula crawled out of the passage and Ty Lee snuck her past the blockade. They finally stopped walking on a rooftop in the slums. Azula looked around with an expression of disgust and distaste. Ty Lee did not know if she could do anything to remedy that.

"So, people will probably start looking for you, so we should get to the pier as fast as we can," Ty Lee said. Azula was not flexible or kind this time.

"We have to get something before we leave," Azula said, which was not good news. "I refuse to go with you until we do."

"But your dad…" Ty Lee knew this was a bad idea. She should have just skipped saving this princess and go on living in shame.

"My father will not be the only one looking for me. There will be soldiers, citizens if there is a manhunt, and… well…" Azula scowled.

"A dragon?" Ty Lee suggested.

Princess Azula narrowed her eyes in that scary way again. "How much do these Kyoshi Warriors even know? If they are so aware of Caldera, they are a threat and should be neutralized."

Ty Lee replied, "I don't think they could stand against this place. The lights and things that move on their own and all of the metal stuff. We mostly have mud and some fans, which won't help against any of this. Or a dragon, for that matter."

Azula did not look convinced, but she did not continue arguing either.

 **.**

 **.**

They made it a few blocks before they were stopped by soldiers. They unsheathed their weapons as Ty Lee stepped in front of Azula. It did not disguise her very well.

"Give us the princess and we might let you get away unharmed," growled one of them.

They all were very muscular, very heavily armed, and there were around eleven of them. Ty Lee knew this was a fight she… Ty Lee _hoped_ this was a fight she could win. She turned to the princess, knowing she came this far and was not about to stop now.

She could not come this far and then never become a Kyoshi Warrior.

"I'll protect you," Ty Lee said, reaching for the princess and taking her hand. Azula instantly pulled away, glowering at Ty Lee.

"I do not need to be protected. I am the most powerful firebender in history," Azula replied, lighting her hands. They glowed blue and Ty Lee could feel the radiating heat even from feet away.

Maybe she did not need protection, but she needed someone to be on her side. Ty Lee was going to rescue her if it was the last thing she did.

Ty Lee was not going to give up on this mission so easily.

They turned on the soldiers and began to fight them. Ty Lee avoided the weapons and flames with acrobatics and managed to find a few chinks in armor that she could punch. They were not easy to chi-block, but Ty Lee tried.

Azula was much better in this fight than her. She burned soldier after soldier.

Then more came, and more, and then Ty Lee heard an unearthly shriek.

A dragon.

Ty Lee glanced at Azula, her eyes wide. Azula called out to her, "Knock over those water barrels. Now!"

Confused but desperate, Ty Lee did as she was told.

Azula raised two fingers and Ty Lee watched in awe as lightning itself crackled on her fingertips.

She directed it at the water and it hopped through the soldiers, making metal armor a very poor choice.

"We have to run from him now," Azula said, grabbing Ty Lee by the arm.

They ran past the probably-dead soldiers and began to weave through the streets.

Ty Lee heard the sounds in the sky.

That _thing_ was absolutely following them and Ty Lee did not think there was a way out of this bind.

Why could her dream not take her further than this?

 **.**

 **.**

Azula jumped from a rooftop and rolled behind a rock. Ty Lee began to follow her, even though she was beginning to think there was no escape from the beast towering over them, blacking out the sun and sky with its massive body and wings.

Ty Lee turned around. She started falling but stopped herself; this would not end like her dream.

It did not, but it ended poorly.

She froze up in front of the horrific monster.

That moment of panic gave it the opportunity to grab her arm in its teeth and _tear_.

She screamed and the agonizing last of teeth and claws against her body were the last things she felt.

Azula stepping out from behind the boulder was the last thing she saw.

She was cold and in pain and blood and coughing up blood and she was gone.

 **.**

 **.**

"Are you alright?" Azula asked, her voice blurry and echoing.

It was the first thing Ty Lee heard before she even opened her eyes. She was pretty certain her real escapade ended almost the same way as her dream, and so she had no idea how she was alive. Ty Lee also did not know why she felt no pain and, after checking, knew she still had a left arm.

She opened her eyes and saw that she was in darkness, unwounded, but unseeing.

"Where am I?" Ty Lee asked groggily.

"In this disgusting passage you said we needed to go in. Where else would we be? You passed out," said Princess Azula. "And my father will start looking for us in an hour—maybe two if we are lucky—and so you will get up and lead me out of here. You said you would aid my escape not ten minutes ago."

"Where did the dragon go?" Ty Lee asked, not sure how she got all the way back here with Azula.

"How much do your Kyoshi Warriors know about this place?" Azula snarled. "Why do they not just stage an attack if they know about _him_ … and me. We are two of the three greatest weapons the Fire Nation has and no one knows about…"

"The dragon that tried to eat me!" Ty Lee snapped, stepping out of Azula's arms. She shrunk. "I'm sorry, princess. I didn't mean to yell at you. Please forgive me."

"You look fairly intact and undigested to me, and I am hoping he is still asleep by the palace. Which he will not stay for long so _hurry_ , airhead," Azula ordered.

Ty Lee had never even heard Suki that commanding, but it suited the princess. She was impossible to disobey, especially when she spoke like that.

And so, as confused as Ty Lee was, she had no choice but to follow Azula.


	4. Chapter 4

**_4_**

* * *

Azula led Ty Lee out of the dank passageway. They ran towards the streets and Ty Lee hoped that they would avoid the dragon this time. She stopped running for a moment and considered how she could go about it in a different way that would avoid her death. The pain of dying was abhorrent.

When they walked up the street, Ty Lee caught sight of the guards she missed last time. She grabbed the princess's hand and Azula batted her away.

"The soldiers," Ty Lee whispered. "They'll stop us and then that dragon I mentioned will catch up with us."

"Are you a fortuneteller now?" Azula asked, laughing wickedly. Ty Lee wondered if the princess she was supposed to be saving was in fact a villain.

"No. I just see them up ahead," Ty Lee said. Azula sighed.

"Fine. We'll cut through this alleyway," replied Azula, darting around the corner. Ty Lee scurried to catch up with her.

They dashed beneath the shadows of the buildings and walked out into an ambush. Ty Lee began to choke as she saw the sea of soldiers before them. The dragon would sense the chaos and see its princess.

Azula strode forward before Ty Lee could stop her.

"You have no idea what you have gotten yourselves into," Azula declared. The soldiers narrowed in on a girl who had lived her entire life in a tower.

Ty Lee steadied herself and raised her fists to fight.

But the princess struck their enemies first. Azula moved like a midnight storm. Whatever training this princess did locked in that tower, whatever she had been born able to do… spirits help them all. She was a whirling cloud of death, a mistress of lightning, and the men in clunky armor were already carrion.

They were dead; they just did not know it yet.

Ty Lee hurried forward and fought back to back with the gorgeous princess. Her attraction to the girl she was to protect grew and grew as seconds passed and men fried at her hands.

"We're a good team," Ty Lee said, smiling and turning around once they had laid waste to the soldiers.

"I did all the work. But perhaps you helped a tiny bit," said Azula, smirking.

Ty Lee's heart fluttered.

Suddenly, she smelled cheap perfume and blinked her eyes in blinding light.

The voice of the woman who sent her to Caldera prettily asked, "Do you like it?"

Ty Lee's head burst into agonizing pain. She looked down at the light blue rug and the dirty wooden floor. She looked up at Suki, holding a pink-bejeweled holoband in one hand. Suddenly, Ty Lee remembered it all. Volunteering to test the beta of a game Suki poured her life into. Ty Lee's best friend was always an expert at fighting games and corporeal martial arts and she liked to build them from her own knowledge of battle. But this time it was different, Suki insisted.

It was the next level of pure immersion.

"I was there. I was that girl—that Kyoshi Warrior. I remember…" Ty Lee's head hurt and she clawed at it with her fake fingernails. "I remember a whole life on an island that doesn't exist. That's… this isn't a good thing. I don't think that level of — what did you call it? — _immersion_ is safe. How do I remember to take the band off?"

"There's an alarm you set. I think it's the future. People want to live in these games, in these worlds. You _can_. You can remember the whole life of a girl on an island without electricity."

"I forgot that word. Suki, I forgot that word until you said it." Ty Lee rubbed her forehead. "And the pain of dying. I _felt_ how much it hurt."

"Yeah. That's the incentive," Suki said. "It's not real if death isn't real."

Ty Lee thought about what wounded her worst. It was that the girl she was so drawn to did not exist. "Who is the princess based off of?"

"She's just some random blond girl," said Suki with a careless shrug. She cared little about the princess; she cared about immersion and textures and reactions of the players.

Ty Lee squints at her best friend. "She isn't blond."

"Yeah." Suki seemed perplexed. "Blond hair, blue eyes, defenseless as could be. It's a cliché, I know but—"

Ty Lee shook her head. "Suki, she didn't look like that, and she was pretty far from defenseless. She killed people with lightning."

Frowning, Suki studied Ty Lee. "I'm sure it was just your imagination. You must have a really powerful one. That's lucky. You made up what you wanted to see because you prefer being protected over protecting."

Suki did not seem to believe her own explanation, which deeply unnerved Ty Lee.

"Yeah…" murmured Ty Lee, drifting away from the chipper and bright girl she was when she put that band over her eyes. Suki set the pink piece of standard technology on Ty Lee's lap. "Yeah, that's lucky." She grabbed her backpack and stood up. "I should get going. I'm really tired now."

"Do you want the game?" Suki asked as Ty Lee hustled towards the door.

"No, but thanks for letting me test it!" Ty Lee widely smiled and waved at her best friend.

 **.**

 **.**

When Ty Lee got home, she did her homework on the mandatory tablet. The lights of the gigantic city glittered outside and the smog pressed against the windows. Ty Lee supposed that electricity was very real, and was the foundation of her world. Yet, when she was in the mind of the Kyoshi Warrior, she never had heard of or imagined such a thing.

As she failed to focus on mathematics and getting ready for bed, Ty Lee thought about the princess for the entirety of the night.

She was enraptured by the girl inside of the game and that feeling only intensified once she was outside of it.

That night, she dreamed about Azula's golden eyes and the sparks that flew wildly from her fingertips. Her dream ended as a nightmare; she felt the pain of the dragon ripping her body apart.

Ty Lee woke and stared at the ceiling.

What _was_ that experience?

 **.**

 **.**

Before school, Ty Lee walked down the street to meet Suki like she always did. Her friend burst from her house with a smile on her face and one of her martial arts fans sticking out of her blue leather bag. Ty Lee bit on her lip as she thought about how she would have to retract her earlier anger and ask for a favor.

"What is it?" Suki inquired, sensing Ty Lee's apprehension.

"I changed my mind and I really, really want to keep playing," Ty Lee said, thinking about the landscape of Caldera and how different it was from the sprawling city around her. She liked that place and its silly festival and slanted red roofs. "Can you download the game on my holoband?"

Suki smiled, pleased that Ty Lee came around. "Yeah… but I thought you hated it."

"I was just disoriented. I thought it was really fun and I want to know how I save the princess," Ty Lee said, uncertain if she was lying or not. She _did_ want to save the princess. That much was true.

"Alright," Suki said with a smile.

Ty Lee handed over her holoband and Suki fished around in her bag for her own.

She hooked them up and without even making them late for school, Ty Lee had the game at her fingertips.

 **.**

 **.**

During first period, Ty Lee set the bathroom pass down beside her on the floor as she pinned her back to the stall door and settled on the cold red tiles. She fished through her bright pink purse for her holoband and flipped it on. She set the alarm to protect herself, and then plunged into Suki's game.

Ty Lee forgot about the incense-scented bathroom around her. She forgot who she was. She forgot about the real world and the history class she was supposed to be in.

Azula stood among the corpses of the soldiers they killed. Ty Lee breathed heavily as she gazed into the eyes that enraptured her.

"Shall we get going? I would like to get out of this city as soon as possible," subtly orders Azula, nodding towards another alleyway.

Ty Lee followed her without a moment's hesitation, feet thudding against the cobblestone streets.

 **.**

 **.**

They ran through the maze for hours. The sun was setting by the time they decided to discuss the obvious.

"How do we even get out of here?" Ty Lee demanded, horrified. "I swear Kyoshi Island is smaller than the few streets we've been running around. Do you know the way out?"

Azula scowled and rolled her eyes. "Of _course_ I do not. I have never left my tower, remember? I have been relying on you, and this is _precisely_ why I despise being dependent on others. People are idiots other than myself."

"I'm not that bright," Ty Lee said. "But let's climb a roof and get a better look."

Azula nodded and they scurried up a drain pipe. As they knelt atop a roof, darkness fell, and they looked out at a cityscape that no one could brave.

"Any ideas?" Azula inquired, staring out. "We should be able to see the ocean, should we not?"

"Probably. This city is weird. I know it's probably just because I grew up in a mud hut, but it feels _alive_ , if you know what I mean," Ty Lee said, sitting down and slumping her shoulders.

"Inexplicably, I do," said Azula under her breath. She sat down as well. "We can just spend the night here and figure it out in the morning. I am exhausted."

Ty Lee smiled. "Me too."

They lay down side by side.

Before Ty Lee could even dream, it was morning. She was on top of the same roof, surrounded by the same maze of streets.

The only difference was that Azula was gone.


	5. Chapter 5

**_5_**

* * *

On a cold day in the sprawling smoggy city, Suki stood wrapped around Sokka's arm when Ty Lee approached the front steps of the high school. She strode forward and beamed, waving brightly.

"You look sleepy. Did you meet a boy?" Suki waggled her eyebrows and Ty Lee giggled.

"Nope. I played Save the Princess like nonstop all weekend. I'm getting good at it."

"What part did you reach?"

Ty Lee chirped, "Like, I started over from the boat at the beginning. Like from scratch. And I'm stuck in that maze. I died like a thousand times."

"That's a hard one," casually said Suki, turning with Sokka to walk inside.

Ty Lee strode after them, trying to shake off her irritation that Suki was not more invested in the game she made.

"It's your best one!" chimed Ty Lee, catching up with her friend. Suki turned to face her. "I love your Kyoshi Warrior games _so much_. They're like my favorite fictional badass ladies, but Save the Princess is _insane_. I could play it for the rest of my life and never wake up."

"More like never go to sleep," teased Suki, and they walked a few feet farther before they parted ways to attend separate classes.

 **.**

 **.**

Ty Lee struggled to stay awake in her first period math class.

She spent the entire night thinking about the game Suki made, and the princess living inside of it. After a dragon murdered her several times, she gave up and went to sleep moments before daylight. Now she had to pay attention to _boring school_. Gross.

The cutest boy in class leaned over as the class came to a close.

"Hey, Ty Lee," said Haru, flashing an adorable and innocent smile. "Do you want to go to the arcade with me after school?"

"I'd love to. That's, like, my favorite place." Ty Lee beamed gloriously.

He smiled and said, "I'll meet you after last period."

Eagerly, she replied, "I'm totally looking forward to it."

 **.**

 **.**

After school, Ty Lee and Haru took the swift metal train through the busy streets. She glanced at the flashing billboards that caught her eyes and tailored the ads for her alone.

They got off at their stop while Haru told a funny story about his friends during lunch. It was a swift walk through the bustling crowd to get to the best arcade in the city.

When they stepped inside, Haru greeted the guy who ran the place and they began to catch up. Ty Lee glanced around for something to busy her.

And her eyes landed on bright pink paper taped to the glass door.

Excited, Ty Lee closely studied the flyer for the Fire Days tournament this weekend. And her favorite game! Demon Blitz.

"That looks so fun," she remarked brightly, nudging Haru. He turned away from the shopkeeper to look at her. "The day after the festival, though. I'll be so _sleepy_."

"You would compete in a video game tournament?" Haru asked. "Why?"

Cheerily, Ty Lee replied, "You're gonna find out why. Come on; let's play some Demon Blitz."

Winking once, Ty Lee smiled and strode to her favorite game. Haru hustled to follow her.

They both placed the holo bands over their eyes and Ty Lee blinked several times. She found herself standing in a stone room with false lava pouring down the black rocks. The heat made her break out into a sweat almost immediately.

Suddenly, she and Haru were surrounded by options. Four elements for bending, a bow and arrow, a sword, and a flickering holographic image of two fists.

A booming, disembodied voice roared, "Choose your weapon!"

Ty Lee selected bare-handed combat; Haru chose earthbending.

A stream of demons, wretched and terrifying, began to viciously tear at them as they fought side by side.

 **.**

 **.**

After twelve levels, Ty Lee could barely breathe. She resurfaced in the arcade, returning to reality from her dizzy alternative.

"Is this a date?" Haru asked as he removed his band. Ty Lee did the same.

"Do you want it to be?" she sweetly asked, grabbing the vintage joystick and starting to type in her name for the second highest score.

He took a slow breath and nodded. "Sounds nice."

"Sounds nice." She smiled brightly.

Haru asked in pure curiosity, studying his sort of date closely, "Why don't you choose an element? Who doesn't want to be a bender?"

"Not me. I think it's more fun to get, uh," and she bat her eyelashes, "up close and personal."

He broke out into a sweat. So cute. Ty Lee definitely thought that was _so cute_.

"Up close and personal, huh?" he asked. "Cool, cool, cool. You're good at it, anyway."

"Yup. If you didn't notice, now I have the second highest score!" chirped Ty Lee excitedly.

Haru playfully pointed at the bright, flashing screen. "Yeah, but look who has the _first_."

Ty Lee squinted and sweetly read aloud, "Uhm, RockBlaster4."

"That's me," he said rather proudly, flexing his muscles. Ty Lee was rather impressed.

"That's you." Ty Lee giggled, batting her eyelashes simultaneously. "Aaaaand, RockBlaster4, I'm gonna beat you now."

Haru laughed. "Really?"

"If it takes me all day. Because I could totally play all day with you. I mean it!" Ty Lee beamed. He blushed and she ate it up. Ty Lee placed the band over her eyes and he did the same.

They played countless rounds.

She thought she could stay here until the city lights began to gleam, but then she caught sight of someone leaving another machine. So beautiful. The prettiest girl Ty Lee had ever seen. But wait—Ty Lee _had_ seen her before. That was—that was—the girl leaving was—

"That—that's her!" exclaimed Ty Lee, jumping up and abandoning her backpack to run after the girl. Her golden eyes, raven hair, ivory skin, rosy lips. The Princess. "Wait up! Wait up!"

The girl turned around to face Ty Lee as she strode towards the door. Their eyes locked for a moment. The princess's were brilliant; the game did no justice to the real thing.

But she left. The princess left the arcade!

Ty Lee started running to catch up with her, but the princess crossed the street and three taxis and a bus blocked the route between them. When the vehicles at last passed, Ty Lee bouncing up and down nervously, the Princess was gone as if she never existed.

"Hey," said Haru from behind, panting faintly. "What happened?"

"I…" Ty Lee's eyelashes fluttered and her lips parted. "I guess I thought I saw someone I knew. Wow, I feel really dumb. I'm sorry."

"Oh. It's no big deal. Happens to everyone."

 _Not everyone thinks they saw someone_ fictional _,_ thought Ty Lee.

But she was real.

The princess seemed so _real_.

Maybe Ty Lee was just losing her mind.

 **.**

 **.**

At home that night, Ty Lee toyed with her holoband in bed. She stared at it and wondered if she was going to let herself get lost in Suki's project again. It seemed tempting, but… if she was hallucinating the princess, perhaps it was unwise.

Ultimately, she decided against it and locked her holoband in her bedside table drawer.

Time to sleep. School tomorrow.

 _Forget about the princess's doppelganger and go to sleep,_ thought Ty Lee.

Thankfully, she drifted off as soon as her head hit the pillow.

 **.**

 **.**

Ty Lee dreamed of a cold island, surrounded by the frigid blue ocean. A sea creature lived in the bay and she dreamed of trying to catch it as a game with the other villagers. The mud on her feet felt more real than the plush socks she wore in her real bed.

She dreamed of two people. Parents. They were her parents. She loved them.

They slowly faded away while Ty Lee screamed and screamed and begged for them to stay.

Ty Lee woke in a cold sweat. She looked through the thin curtains and saw the neon lights of the city outside. Usually, they comforted her after a bad dream, but they did not help her tonight.

When she stood to clean herself up and hopefully fall back to sleep, she began to crumble and clutched her windowsill. The moonlight shined down on her while she washed her face with tears.

As she barely contained hiccupping sobs, Ty Lee wondered why she felt such strong sadness. Her dream. It had to be her dream. Whatever it inspired in her gut, she knew she had to cope.

Who was that woman? Where was that island?

The only time Ty Lee saw the ocean was when she went to restaurants by the Caldera harbor or went on a tropical vacation with her family.

Ty Lee brushed the thoughts aside and stepped into the shower. She let the cold water smash against her skin and stood beneath the chill as she waited for it to heat.

Eyes closed, Ty Lee tried to absorb herself in a body wash that smelled strongly of orange peels and cherry blossoms. It hit her while she inhaled steam.

She was not herself in that dream; she was the player character in Save the Princess.

Maybe this immersion was dangerous. It was untested, made by an amateur who usually just designed bland fighting games about the popular fictional sect of female warriors.

Ty Lee picked up her holoband.

She _needed_ to go back into that game.

For some reason, she knew she needed to transform back into the girl in her dream.

She remembered to set the timer; her last experience made it clear that that was important. Playing an experimental game with such immersion technology was dangerous, but she needed it. She needed to see the princess again.

She stood in a lobby, an empty one, since Suki did not connect this prototype to the outside world. Ty Lee strode forward towards the logo, ignoring the holographic windows she set to display constant sunshine on Ember Island.

At last, she stood in front of a hallway.

A flashing sign read, RESUME FROM YOUR LAST SAVE?

Fiercely, Ty Lee selected that option.

Ty Lee stood again in Caldera, with no memory of who she was outside of this world. She did not remember the busy neon streets, the glass doors of the arcade, the antiseptic scent of her high school. She was a warrior from Kyoshi Island on a very strange rescue mission.

She lay on the floor in a dangerous maze, beside a princess she knew she needed to protect. The Kyoshi Warriors gave her everything. Even if it meant entering the Fire Nation, Ty Lee would do it. She was loyal. It was who she was. She was loyal and… maybe she liked the princess. Liked her so much that she could not bear the thought of losing her to the monsters that live within these walls.

"Princess," Ty Lee whispered, gently poking her ward. "Princess, are you awake?"

"What?" snapped Azula, rolling over to face Ty Lee. The dirt on her face did not make her look any less regal in Ty Lee's eyes.

Ty Lee said, "We need to find a way out of here. There has to be one, right?"

Azula loosely nodded and stood.

They began to traverse the maze again.

When the timer went off, Ty Lee registered that she failed to escape and died four times, and she did not progress her relationship with the princess in the slightest.

 **.**

 **.**

The next morning in math class, Haru asked, "You going to the festival tonight?"

Ty Lee leaned over the side of her desk and smiled at him. She noticed the tufts of a mustache and kept it to herself. Ty Lee knew well that guys loved it when she complimented their facial hair, but she knew she needed to save that one for an ideal time.

"Yeah!" chirped Ty Lee. "Are you?"

"If you're going," he said, running his hand through his hair.

"Of course I am. I love festivals and stuff." She suddenly thought about the one she lived multiple times within the confine of Save the Princess. It was terrifying to the girl she became when she played, but laughable to the girl she was in real life.

"Everybody is going I guess. I just thought I'd ask." He sweetly smiled.

Ty Lee wondered why she loved the princess so much. That girl was cruel and cold, but Ty Lee wanted her much more than she wanted the kind boy looking at her like she was the moon. Ty Lee could think only of how much she wanted the princess to look at her like that.

But maybe it was not in Azula's programming.

Ty Lee held back a sigh.

 **.**

 **.**

That night after school, Ty Lee stood in the midst of the amazing festival around her. She always adored it when they hosted the celebration down at the boardwalk. Fire Days. She _loved_ Fire Days. And she completely savored the scent of the sea.

She waved cheerily when she saw Haru and Katara and Sokka and Suki. Ty Lee skittered over to them, beaming brightly and skidding to a stop.

"You took your time," said Suki, winking. Ty Lee smiled back then squinted at Haru. He looked better groomed than he usually did, as if he put almost as much time into his appearance as Ty Lee put into her own.

Ty Lee's eyebrows shot up when she noticed something. Wisps of hair gradually spreading into something new. "I like your mustache."

Haru rubbed his neck. "It's in the works. I didn't think anybody noticed it."

"I noticed it. I like mustaches." _And soft raven hair and shiny golden eyes and…_

Stop. No. Ty Lee was _not_ going to fall in love with a video game character. That would incredibly weird, incredibly embarrassing, and only make her addictions worse. The virtual reality of Suki's game was so stunning that it was hard to distinguish it from the true world. The princess in that game seemed as real as the friends surrounding her, or the smell of cinnamon permeating the air.

"I wanna see the fortune teller!" Ty Lee chirped, grabbing Suki by the arm. "Come on!"

She ran to Aunt Wu's tent. Ty Lee skittered inside, Suki stumbling beside her.

"I want my fortune," pleaded Ty Lee, walking forward and sitting down in front of the fortune teller.

Aunt Wu smiled knowingly. "What will it be?"

"I guess…" Ty Lee paused. "You could just read my general fortune. I don't need anything specific."

 _Please tell me about the princess._

Aunt Wu nearly danced as she gathered her materials and made an impressive show in the fire. Ty Lee watched, eyes wide, in rapt awe. At last, Aunt Wu examined the bones sitting on the rickety table.

"You have the mark of the warrior for some reason, you will have two great loves, you will face an illness soon… and there is a traitor in your midst."

"Is that… is…"

"That's all I've got. If you pay me again, we could try the crystal ball or tea leaves," offered Aunt Wu and Ty Lee reluctantly shook her head.

"Thank you." She bowed in respect and forked over the coins.

Slowly, Ty Lee stood and walked back out onto the boardwalk with Suki.

Once they were a few feet away, Suki burst out into laughter.

Ty Lee suppressed a scowl. She put great stake in the arcane arts, and none of that fortune sounded particularly favorable to her.

Yeah, maybe two great loves sounded fantastic, but she would prefer one.

Maybe she was being irrational.

She was just _so tired_. She felt like a _zombie_.

How could she focus on her future when she could barely keep up with the present.

 **.**

 **.**

Ty Lee's eyes widened when she saw her again. She thought it was just her mind playing tricks on her when she saw the girl outside of the arcade yesterday. But Ty Lee _knew_ she must be real this time. It was evident by the way she walked.

Then Ty Lee lost sight of her again. _No_.

She needed to find her princess. Ty Lee could not let the girl slip away again without meeting her for the first—first _ish_ —time. She glanced around for anything, any way that she could conquer the festival and find her princess, friends and party plans be damned.

Ty Lee began to weave through the crowd.

She swallowed her frustrations and quickly made a plan. She leapt up onto the rooftops and started to leap across them like a shadow. Ty Lee was amazed at herself. She had a trillion years of gymnastics training; she was always the most promising student and won countless trophies. But she never thought of applying those skills this way until she spent so much of her time as a warrior. A _real_ warrior who could probably do excellent cartwheels.

At last, she caught sight of the princess again.

Ty Lee gracefully leapt back down onto the street and gazed at the amazing girl.

The Princess—the real and alive Princess, breathing and beautiful—stood primly and properly in front of the ride titled _HAUNTED FORTRESS_.

Suddenly, the princess started walking forward and Ty Lee started panicking. She could not stop staring to save her life. Ty Lee was looking right at her. Looking right at the princess from the game.

"I… I…" Ty Lee stammered, profusely sweating. She thought she may throw up on her cute shoes. Oh well, they were scuffed from the rooftops anyway.

"Can I help you?" asked the princess. "You've been gawking."

Ty Lee weakly lied, "Oh, I… thought you were someone I knew."

The princess purred in that overconfident tone Ty Lee recognized from the video game, "I am not that someone. You may run along now."

Ty Lee hastily chimed in, "But you might be somebody I'd like to know. I'd like to know you."

The princess's golden eyes sparkled. Ty Lee loved it. "What if I don't want to know you?"

"I'm really fun. And I'm a good friend. Loyal and stuff. Really loyal." Ty Lee nodded again and again like a lunatic.

The princess cocked a beautifully sculpted eyebrow. "Are you trying to hit on me?"

"N-no. I, uh…" Ty Lee took a deep breath. When she exhaled, she asked, "Can we start over?"

The girl paused and seemed to contemplate for a moment before she nodded. "Yes. We can."

Ty Lee extended a hand with a winning smile. "Hi. I'm Ty Lee. Nice to meet you. Would you like to go get a drink with me from that cute stand over there?"

"I would," said the princess.

"So," asked Ty Lee as they walked, "what's your name?"

"Azula," said the princess. Ty Lee took a slow breath.

Ty Lee asked the necessary question. "Do you know my friend Suki?"

"Who?" was Azula's innocuous reply.

"Oh. No one," said Ty Lee, irritated that the simplest explanation was wrong. It would have been easy to think that Suki knew her and designed the character in her image.

Ty Lee got the food for both of them and Azula reached out for hers. Her scarlet sleeves sagged downwards, revealing marks on the insides of her wrists.

They looked like injection sites, but Ty Lee could not call herself an expert.

"How did you get those scars?" asked Ty Lee, pointing. She then realized how rude she was being and wanted to jump off of the boardwalk into the ocean and drown herself.

"I think you have to get to know me a little better to find that out," purred Azula and a beet-red Ty Lee hastily nodded.

"So, you wanna get to know me?" Ty Lee's eyes lit up when Azula nodded.

Azula took a breath and smirked. She was evil but she was beautiful and Ty Lee was intoxicated.

"I am a reasonable girl. I will give you a chance." Azula focused on her treat.

Ty Lee thought her heart might burst in her chest.

.

.

That night after shallowly flirting with Azula for the entire evening, Ty Lee again stood in the empty holographic lobby. She walked to the hallway.

A flashing sign: RESUME FROM YOUR LAST SAVE?

Ty Lee held up her hand and selected _yes_.


End file.
